Embracing the Magic
by Shadowseeker170
Summary: Quinn switched coasts to escape her earth-shattering past, planning to start a new life at Spencer Academy - one without heartache, death and, most of all, magic. But when she befriends the Sons of Ipswich, she is forced to embrace her past to survive.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: okay, so this is my first Covenant fanfiction…it's currently nameless; I haven't got any ideas for it as of yet…enjoy, and pleasepleaseplease tell me how it is! Any constructive criticism is appreciated – constructive only! I can't take too much plain old battering, as it is the equivalent of a Scandinavian war hammer striking my soul! R&R! And I don't mean rest and relaxation!_

_xxx – Shadowseeker_

Chapter One

"Everyone please sit down, class is beginning…." the professor droned at the sound of the bell. The students climbed to their respective seats while the teacher started his lesson for the day, the students quickly losing interest in the subject.

"…and his most famous book was…" Reid Garwin tuned out the monotonous voice of the teacher, allowing his eyes to rove over the students. He finally sat back in his seat, bored. There was no one interesting in here, if you didn't count his friends.

Reid glanced over at the younger Tyler Simms, who also seemed incredibly bored. Reid turned towards the door in confusion when Tyler's eyes lit up as the door shut with an audible click. There in the doorway, looking disinterested and aloof, was this total babe. Even more of a babe than Caleb's girlfriend Sarah, and Sarah was pretty hot, if you asked Reid…

The girl spelled badass, from her very beanie covered blonde head and the many rings in her ears and nose, all the way down to her combat boot-clad feet as she clumped her way to the professor's desk. Annoyed at the interruption, Professor Danby looked up from his notes at the newcomer. His face changed in record time from annoyance to admiration as his eyes raked over the girl appreciatively.

_God, _Reid scoffed to himself as he took note of Danby's face. _ And everyone thinks __**I'm **__the pervert… _

The girl rolled her eyes at the teacher and said loudly, "Professor Danby? Hello? Earth to Danby!" When he still refused to give her a response aside from his ogling, the girl walked up to him and snapped her fingers in his face, the sound loud in the quiet that had accompanied her arrival. Danby jumped, his ears turning pink at the tips.

"Uh….can….can I help you?" he asked, trying his hardest not to look at the girl anymore. She sighed to herself and rolled her eyes again at the class. A few chuckles broke out from the crowd, Reid's being one of them. The girl looked up at him and their eyes met for a brief moment before she looked back at the professor, disinterested. Needless to say, Reid was feeling the opposite.

"I'm Quinn," she said, her voice both husky and clear, as she tried in vain to get Danby to take the slip of paper she held out to him. "I just transferred in." After shaking it in his face for the third time, the girl – _Quinn_, Reid reminded himself – made an exasperated noise in the back of her throat and dropped the paper on his desk. "Now," she started, as if speaking to a very dense child, "I'm going to go find a seat, and sit down." The professor shuffled his feet nervously. "Then you can start your lecture again. Okay?" Danby cleared his throat once, twice. Three times. Talk about phlegm.

"Yes…" his voice was small as he peeked up at her, then glanced away again. "That….that would be fine, Miss….Quinn."

"_God_," she muttered as she walked away from him, towards the tiered rows of desks. Reid watched her interestedly, noticing the way her slim and very tan legs moved gracefully between backpacks as she walked up the stairs. He was jolted back to reality when he felt a sharp jab in his side.

"_Ow_. That hurt, you douche." He turned to glare at Tyler, who was glaring right back.

"Move your shit, idiot!" Tyler hissed, indicating the desk next to Reid that was covered with various school items. It was the only empty seat in the class. Reid realized this and smirked to himself, shoving the numerous books and papers onto his side of the desk as Quinn appeared at the end of the row, also having noticed the seating predicament. She dropped her book bag on the desk with a thunk, slumping into the chair behind it as she did so. Reid watched her, secretly glad that he had been a dick to the last kid to sit there. After all, it had cleared the seat for Quinn, hadn't it? And Quinn was much easier on the eyes.

"Hi," he said, lifting a hand off his desk in a carefully casual wave. Quinn glanced over at him, tedium and disinterest showing clearly in her very blue eyes.

"Hey," she said apathetically, before glancing towards the front of the room. Intrigued, and deciding not to take the hint, Reid continued.

"I'm Reid. Garwin." Reid heard Tyler's resigned sigh on his left and waited for an answer from Quinn. She glanced back over at him, no longer hiding behind a mask of indifference. Now her expression was annoyed – this Reid was obviously checking her out, something she had hoped wouldn't happen at this school. So much for the idea that prestigious schools meant that students would be too dedicated to their studies to care about her looks.

"Quinn," she answered, allowing her slight annoyance to color her tone. "Pope." Reid smiled in excitement. Tyler elbowed him in the side again, causing Reid to wince. Tyler leaned in front of Reid, offering his hand to the new girl.

"Hey," he said, smiling genuinely. "I'm Tyler Simms. You can ignore the idiot," he added, earning a rueful smile from Quinn as she shook his hand. Tyler was surprised to find that her grip was strong and firm.

Reid's face darkened at Tyler's words, despite the fact that his best friend was saying them in jest. Reid rolled his eyes at Quinn as she glanced at him again, waiting for his answer to Tyler's jab.

"He says that to every girl we meet," he said apologetically. "Baby Boy here thinks he's quite the lady's man." The corners of Quinn's mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile as he rumpled Tyler's hair.

"Really. Somehow I get the feeling that it's the opposite," she answered, an evil glint in her eye. Tyler sat back in his seat, grinning openly. Before Reid could retort, the professor began the lecture where he had left off, finally recovered from the sight of the new student.

_It took him long enough_, Quinn thought to herself. It seemed like everywhere she went, there was always someone leering at her. None of the teachers at her old school had paid any attention to her work; all they liked about her were her looks. And with good reason – Quinn really was beautiful, at least to the rest of the world, with her one hundred percent natural platinum blonde hair, amazingly bright blue eyes (which, upon further discretion, actually had little flecks of gold and green in them), flawless complexion, and sharp, modelesque features.

But all of this was meaningless to Quinn. She was tired of being judged by her looks and actions – teachers and peers saw her as stupid (because, really, only in an ideal world can someone be extremely smart _and _beautiful); half the time it didn't matter what she did – she could have been simply walking through the cafeteria – and girls would call her a slut, thinking she liked to flaunt her looks.

Quinn sighed, recalling these painful memories of her old life. Scooting her chair back so she could lean her head against the wall of the upper tier behind her, Quinn vowed to forget all those memories – especially the ones she had of her best friend's death. That was the real reason she had moved so far away from home, which was all the way on the West coast. After inheriting their magic at fourteen, she and her best friend Devyn had thought their lives would be so much better…how wrong they had been. Quinn chuckled dryly to herself, remembering the excitement she and Devyn had felt when their magic developed.

But no one had told them that using too much could kill them – and Devyn had found out the hard way, using the magic so much that she was brought within an inch of life. She had finally willed her magic to Quinn, choosing to end her life at an internal age of seventeen rather than live it out in a hospital room at an external age of eighty-seven. So Quinn left, since Devyn's death had only caused her to become more of an outcast. She sighed again, miserably, and closed her eyes to stop the tears welling there from overflowing.

Something warm touched her arm suddenly, startling her. Quinn's eyes snapped open, her depression temporarily forgotten in her shock. Reid's hand was resting lightly on her forearm, the playful look on his face replaced by one of concern.

_Shocking_, her subconscious voice was sarcastic as ever. _He has feelings_.

"Hey," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "Are you okay?" Quinn looked into his eyes for the first time, really looked, and was surprised by both the absurd clarity and depth of the twin blue orbs, as well as the intense worry that filled them. He stared back, and Quinn realized he was waiting for an answer.

"Oh. Yeah," she answered awkwardly, her voice even huskier than usual. "Thanks." Reid leaned back into his seat, his hand leaving her arm to rest once again in his lap. Cold air rushed to fill the space where he had placed it, making Quinn feel oddly forlorn. He gave her a small smile before facing the class once more, his expression sliding into the mask of polite disinterest it was before.

Quinn turned her own face towards the front of the classroom, but allowed her thoughts to stay on Reid. It was the first time since Devyn's death that she had thought about something other than her life prior to moving to Ipswich.

_A/N: Well? Whaddya think? Review, if you please! I'll love you for most of forever and give you a virtual cupcake besides!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed. I lurve you lots! Sorry, sorry, SORRY it's taken me soooooooo long to update – my teachers are of the asshole variety (meaning they give a shitload of homework), and prepping for the SATs and AP tests is a lot of freakin' work. But enough of MY problems…_

_Summer, in response to your review, since I was unable to contact you personally: I see what you mean, and I was actually debating whether or not to make Tyler the guy who gets Quinn, but…gah. I'm hoping that, with further plot and character development, I will be able to make it evident that the Quinn in my mind is every bit of a badass (etc, etc) as Reid, when she is not stricken with grief. She would really be too much for poor little Baby Boy to handle!_

_Okay, so this chapter has pretty much no magic in it – it's strictly Reid and Quinn, but that's only because I had to get the basis of their 'relationship' down before I can expand on it (hey, the argument sounded good to me…)._

_And now, without further ado, here is my next (and hopefully better) installment!_

Chapter Two

_"Quinn…" Devyn's voice was raspy and rough as she called for her best friend feebly. Quinn got up from the hard plastic chair next to the hospital bed and rushed to her friend's side, immediately anxious._

_"What is it, Dev? What can I do?" Quinn's hands fluttered over her friend uselessly, finally settling on coming Devyn's brittle gray hair with her fingers. Her friend coughed, her thin, bony chest jumping as Devyn tried to breathe. She whispered something unintelligible, and Quinn leaned closer to hear._

_"Please…" Devyn rasped, her voice less than a whisper now. "Take it…I can't…please…" Quinn knew she meant the magic – Devyn wanted to will hers to Quinn, to end her life. Against her will, hot rivers of tears began to run down Quinn's face, plopping silently onto Devyn's pillow. She bowed her head, a firm 'no' forming on her lips before she considered how Devyn must be feeling. Taking one last shuddering breath, Quinn grasped Devyn's fragile hands in her own and met her milky white eyes. She nodded once, and Devyn's hands tightened their clutch on Quinn's._

_"Thanks…Emo Babe…" Quinn's tears increased their flow at the sound of Devyn's pet name for her. Quinn would remember Devyn's next words until the end of time: "I…will you…my…power…" Devyn's whole body shuddered, and then she was still. _

_Quinn's sobbing stopped abruptly as her chest grew white hot. She gasped in pain, an energy ball forming between her hands. She brought them closer to her face, to look at the ball more clearly. It was growing steadily, fed by a gold-green glow coming from the center of Devyn's chest. Her magic._

Quinn sat up with a gasp, her whole body drenched in sweat. Even after experiencing that memory in the form of a dream every night since Devyn's death, it still made Quinn feel like there was a knife in her gut. She always figured there was something she should have done to save Devyn, but each time her thoughts went down that path the knife twisted painfully.

Quinn sighed, something she seemed to do in increasing amounts lately, and threw her sheets to the side, exposing her bare legs to the chill air. Gasping quietly in shock as her feet touched the cold floor, Quinn hurried to the door and slipped through it into the corridor beyond.

Passing the doors surrounding hers without a second glance, Quinn padded silently in the direction of what she knew was the pool. Swimming always helped calm her down; things made sense in a world of rhythmic splashes and strokes. As she sidled up to the door of the locker rooms, she silently removed her lock picks from the band of her boy shorts – corny, yes, but Quinn had been unfortunate enough to find that they came in handy way more than they should have, and she absolutely refused to use magic – and inserted one into the lock. It clicked open and Quinn slid silently through the door, shutting it before making her way over to her newly assigned locker.

She grabbed a towel, ignoring her bathing suit (it's not like anyone was going to see her at two in the morning), and made her way out the door connected to the huge swimming complex.

_At least the pool here is bigger than at home _she thought, trying to distract herself from the deathly pale face of her best friend she kept seeing in her mind. Quinn dropped her towel carelessly on the concrete floor and began climbing the ladder above the diving pool.

Diving had always been her favorite activity in the pool; it was what she was best at, and she and Devyn had done it for years together. Quinn's pace slowed as she replayed memories of her diving years with Devyn, once again struck by intense loneliness. Then she shook her head, a stubborn set to her jaw altering her features to one of fierce determination. She kept climbing.

Reid sat up in shock, jolted from a dead sleep. He looked around the room he shared with Tyler curiously, searching for a reason as to why he woke so suddenly. Finding none, yet still unsatisfied, Reid got up and slipped silently out the door. Turning from the room, he began the short walk to the pool.

_AN: muahhahahahahahahahaaaaa…cough_

There was barely a splash as Quinn's dark form made contact with the water, but Reid still made out the noise. He shut the door behind him, wincing at the audible click, and moved silently into the shadow of the coiled lane markers next to him. His eyes slid to black as he subconsciously enhanced his vision, and he was able to make out the feminine figure gliding along the pool bottom.

Curious, Reid made his way slowly over to the edge of the pool.

_Who would be here at two in the morning? _He wondered. He further augmented his vision until he could make out the features of the swimmer (who still hadn't surfaced. Not even _he _could stay under that long.). Recognizing the face of the new girl, Quinn, Reid rocked back on his heels, honestly surprised. Who knew she was a swimmer, with that blonde hair?

Finally, just as Quinn began coming closer to the surface, Reid crouched at the edge of the pool steps, deciding to take advantage of the situation. He barely managed to contain a gasp of admiration as she broke the surface, clad in only a thin tank top and underwear.

Quinn only just restrained a gasp of her own as she opened her eyes and found herself face to face with the smart-alecky boy from her new American Lit class. But she was used to surprises – after all, she hadn't trained at the RMA (Russian Martial Art) school for two years for nothing – and so showed her small amount of shock with only an infinitesimal widening of the eyes.

"Hello, there," Reid said casually. Quinn's eyes narrowed in suspicion at his tone.

"Hello," she answered, her voice guarded. "What are you doing here?" Reid smiled playfully.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied, his voice lighthearted. Quinn snorted in response and levered herself out of the pool.

"Whatever," she said shortly as she walked towards the locker room. Reid jumped up to follow, his gaze sweeping appreciatively over Quinn's wet form.

"Aww, don't tell me you're done!" He mentally slapped himself and tore his gaze from her dripping legs as he hurried to catch up. Quinn looked back at him disdainfully.

"I'm done." She continued her walk to the locker room, perfectly aware of Reid's gaze on her scantily-clad butt. She lengthened her stride. Reid continued to follow, choosing once more to ignore the hint her quickened pace gave.

Quinn whirled to face him once inside the showers, annoyance showing clearly on her face and in her stance. "_What_," she said, trying hard to control her anger. "_do you __**want**_?" She hadn't gotten this annoyed at anyone since before she went to Russia. Reid simply gave her that infuriating smile in answer.

"Oh, not much," he said, his tone still upbeat. Then, on impulse, he asked, "Want to go to Nicky's?" Quinn stared at him, incredulous.

"First off, I don't even know what the hell Nicky's _is._ For all I know, it could be an opium den. Plus, it's two in the _morning_. You expect places to be open at this hour? Oh, and let's not forget the fact that I'm wet, in my underwear, and nowhere close to my room and dry clothes. Shall I continue?" Reid's smile stretched into a grin as he adopted Quinn's stance – hip cocked to the side, arms folded tightly across the chest.

"First off, Nicky's is a bar and is the only decent place to hang out in this town. Plus, it's _always _open. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that, as you appear to be in dire need, it is completely possible for you to wear some of my sweats, since my room is just a couple halls over." Quinn rolled her eyes, but Reid could see her expression wasn't as angry as before. "Shall I continue?"

"Reid." He felt a thrill in the pit of his stomach when she said his name. "Not tonight." Quinn said it like she was talking to a four-year-old. Reid perked up – a "not tonight" was infinitely better than a flat out "no".

"Hmm…I suppose I would be willing to compromise…" Quinn rolled her eyes again. "Okay, I've got it." He snapped his fingers decisively. "Tomorrow is Saturday. Therefore, you must come then." Seeing her wary glance, he added, "Tyler will be there with Pogue and Caleb." Quinn snorted.

"Because that's such a redeeming factor. I don't even know who Pogue and Caleb are. Fine. I'll go, but only because I'm still wet and getting very cold." Reid smiled again, looking at Quinn's chest blatantly. Quinn folded her arms more tightly across her chest.

"Cute. Okay, so I'll stop by your room tomorrow at…mmm, seven. Okay?"

"Whatever. That's fine," she answered before walking over to the nearest showerhead and turning it on. Reid watched approvingly as she got wet all over again. The steam created by the hot water was making him feel especially favorable towards Quinn, so he made a quick escape with one last, "Okay. See you."

He walked back to his room slowly, his mind still back in the girls' showers with Quinn.

Quinn sighed in happiness as the hot water cascaded over her head and down her back.

_Well that was weird_, she thought to herself. _It was like he knew I was there…Gods, how am I going to get out of tomorrow? He'll just stare at my boobs again if I go! _

_Isn't that why you secretly want to go? _ The part of her mind that always brought embarrassing subjects out into the open asked. She put her face directly under the water and allowed it to flow into her ears, as if that could make the voice go away.

_Shut up_, she told herself. Quinn shut off the water and relocated her towel before walking back to her room briskly, doing her best to make the picture of how Reid in just his black pajama bottoms looked in the steam of the shower leave her mind.

AN: Okay, I know that last sentence is awkward, but I tried. So, how was that? Did it make up for me not updating in so long? ….I didn't think so. I tried, I really did! Damn distractions….

Let me know how this is, and how I can improve it. I only like it a teensy. Thanks to those of you who are still with me!


End file.
